Project description:Nitrogen (N) fertilisers are routinely applied to bananas (Musa spp.) to increase production, but may exacerbate important disease such as Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB). Here, we characterised the effects of N rate and form (ammonium or nitrate) on FWB severity, the banana root proteome, and the diversity of rhizosphere bacterial and fungal communities. Banana plants (Musa ABB) were grown under greenhouse conditions in soil with ammonium or nitrate supplemented at five N rates, and with or without inoculation with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc). The growth of non-inoculated plants was positively correlated with N rate. In bananas inoculated with Foc, disease severity increased with N rate, resulting in Foc-inoculated plant growth being greatest at intermediate N rates. The abundance of Foc was weakly related to the treatment conditions and was a poor predictor of disease severity. Fungal diversity was consistently affected by Foc inoculation, while bacterial diversity was associated with changes in soil pH resulting from N addition, in particular ammonium. N rate altered the expression of host metabolic pathways associated with carbon fixation, energy usage, amino acid metabolism, and importantly stress response signalling, irrespective of inoculation or N form. Furthermore, in diseased plants, Pathogenesis-related protein 1, a key endpoint for biotic stress response and the salicylic acid defence response to biotrophic pathogens, was negatively correlated with the rate of ammonium fertiliser but not nitrate. As expected, inoculation with Foc altered the expression of a wide range of processes in the banana plant including those of defence and growth. In summary, our results indicate that the severity of FWB was negatively associated with host defences, which were influenced by N application (particularly ammonium), and shifts in microbial communities in response to ammonium-induced acidification.
Project description:We report the first data of RNA sequencing of banana Musa acuminata cv. Pisang ambon kuning (AAA group) inoculated by two different endophyte bacteria named Stenothropomonas nitritireducens (BR-49) and Kocuria rhizophila (SL-08), respectively, prior to Fusarium oxysprorum f.sp. cubense tropical race 4 (Foc TR4).
Project description:Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. conlutinans (Foc) is a serious root-invading and xylem-colonizing fungus that causes yellowing in Brassica oleracea. To comprehensively understand the interaction between F. oxysporum and B. oleracea, composition of the xylem sap proteome of the non-infected and Foc-infected plants was investigated in both resistant and susceptible cultivars using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) after in-solution digestion of xylem sap proteins. Whole genome sequencing of Foc was carried out and generated a predicted Foc protein database. The predicted Foc protein database was then combined with the public B. oleracea and B. rapa protein databases downloaded from Uniprot and used for protein identification. About 200 plant proteins were identified in the xylem sap of susceptible and resistant plants. Comparison between the non-infected and Foc-infected samples revealed that Foc infection causes changes to the protein composition in B. oleracea xylem sap where repressed proteins accounted for a greater proportion than those of induced in both the susceptible and resistant reactions. The analysis on the proteins with concentration change >=2 fold indicated a large portion of up- and down-regulated proteins were those acting on carbohydrates. Proteins with leucine-rich repeats and legume lectin domains were mainly induced in both resistant and susceptible system, so was the case of thaumatins. Twenty-five Foc proteins were identified in the infected xylem sap and ten of them were cysteine-containing secreted small proteins that are good candidates for virulence and/or avirulence effectors. The findings of differential response of protein contents in the xylem sap between the non-infected and Foc-infected samples as well as the Foc candidate effectors secreted in xylem provide valuable insights into B. oleracea-Foc interactions.
Project description:Soilborne fungal pathogens cause devastating yield losses, are highly persistent and difficult to control. To culminate infection, these organisms must cope with limited availability of iron. Here we show that the bZIP protein HapX functions as a key regulator of iron homeostasis and virulence in the vascular wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum. Deletion of hapX does not affect iron uptake, but causes derepression of genes involved in iron-consuming pathways, leading to impaired growth under iron-depleted conditions. F. oxysporum strains lacking HapX are reduced in their capacity to invade and kill tomato plants and immunodepressed mice. The virulence defect of M-NM-^ThapX on tomato plants is exacerbated by coinoculation of roots with a biocontrol strain of Pseudomonas putida, but not with a siderophore-deficient mutant, indicating that HapX contributes to iron competition of F. oxysporum in the tomato rhizosphere. These results establish a conserved role for HapX-mediated iron homeostasis in fungal infection of plants and mammals. Iron dependent gene expression in Fusarium oxysporum wt and M-NM-^ThapX mutant was measured 1 hour after shifting the mycelia to minimal medium with or without 50 M-NM-<M Fe2(SO4)3. Three independent experiments were performed.
Project description:The influence of during colonization by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Lycopersici secreted effector proteins on the proteome of the xylem sap of tomato plants was investigated using a label-free quantitative proteomics approach. A comparison was made between plants inoculated with either a mock control, a non-effector knockout control, Fusarium oxysporum Fol007 wildtype and four Fol007 single effector protein knockout strains. Specific effects on the relative abundance of certain proteins of the xylem sap occurred for the different knockout strains next to a core set of 24 differentially accumulated proteins which may provide insights into the mechanisms of promoting infection for each of the tested effector proteins.
Project description:Role of fungal cellulases upon Fusarium oxysporum infection. We obtained Fusarium oxysporum mutants, which cannot degrade cellulose capacity to observe their virulence. Cellulose degradation is not mandatory for Fusarium oxysporum to reach the plant vasculature system.